Changes for the Off-Season

[Mitchrapp]

That is really not that much different than historically. The Lakers had Magic, Kareem, and Worthy. The Celtics had Bird, McHale, and Parish. The Sixers had Dr. J, Moses Malone and then take your pick with Mo Cheeks or Andrew Toney. The Bad Boys were built a bit differently with more overall balance and the emphasis on defense. The Bulls were a bit different too since they sort of had 2 with Jordan and Pippen (not going to put guys like Horace Grant, Kukoc, or Rodman up there as a legitimate third star).

I'm not referring to drafted guys.. I guess I didn't make that clear. Teams from way back when were team drafted .. Now a days it's FA going to certain teams, and certain teams only because they're the only teams that can win a title.. These big FA aren't coming to Detroit, or Philly or NY etc.. And never will. Back in the 70's and 80's most of the guys were either drafted or traded.. The Pistons won because of one great trade, Getting Bill & Vinny from Cleveland.. And of course they drafted well, and Dallas didn't take Zeke ;-)

And the thing is, they all talk to each other now. More so than ever.. "Hey, how about coming here, and we'll try and get so and so as well." In-fact you don't even need a GM anymore, the players do it all.

 

[Mitchrapp]

And the cap is the stupidest of all sports. You can manipulate it so much that you can sign anyone you need regardless the cost..

 

[Mitchrapp]

As as a side note I never considered Pippen a star.. I see him like Greg Kelser. Jordan made Pippen like Magic made Kelser. IMO.

 

[everyoneneedsasmil]

The reason none of the big name players will be going to Detroit isn't because of the city itself, it's because the team is hot garbage. If we had a Lebron or Curry level player on our team, other guys would want to play with him. We've NEVER had a guy like that (Isiah probably the closest), and we certainly don't now. That's how these things get done nowadays.

It's not even a bad thing. I sure as hell would be happy if our GM wasn't making the decisions he has been. If we had somebody on our team good enough that stars would walk away from other cities to play with him, you can be damn sure I'd be leveraging that connection as much as possible. The real formula hasn't changed. Start in the draft and get someone worth building around. Manage your cap and free agents well and build a team that fits the player at it's foundation. Lebron, KD, now CP3, those guys left because the original GMs of their teams couldn't build a team (Cavs were a joke outside Lebron, OKC dumped Harden, LAC bought in hard on injury risks).

All three of those guys decided to cut out the crappy GM moves and make things happen themselves. Obviously we don't know yet on CP3, but it worked out like gangbusters for Lebron and KD. And in all likelihood, Houston with CP3 is almost surely going to be better than the Clippers were simply because Harden is so much better than Blake or DeAndre.

 

[Mitchrapp]

The reason none of the big name players will be going to Detroit isn't because of the city itself, it's because the team is hot garbage. If we had a Lebron or Curry level player on our team, other guys would want to play with him. We've NEVER had a guy like that (Isiah probably the closest), and we certainly don't now. That's how these things get done nowadays.

It's not even a bad thing. I sure as hell would be happy if our GM wasn't making the decisions he has been. If we had somebody on our team good enough that stars would walk away from other cities to play with him, you can be damn sure I'd be leveraging that connection as much as possible. The real formula hasn't changed. Start in the draft and get someone worth building around. Manage your cap and free agents well and build a team that fits the player at it's foundation. Lebron, KD, now CP3, those guys left because the original GMs of their teams couldn't build a team (Cavs were a joke outside Lebron, OKC dumped Harden, LAC bought in hard on injury risks).

All three of those guys decided to cut out the crappy GM moves and make things happen themselves. Obviously we don't know yet on CP3, but it worked out like gangbusters for Lebron and KD. And in all likelihood, Houston with CP3 is almost surely going to be better than the Clippers were simply because Harden is so much better than Blake or DeAndre.

That's the thing. They're not hot garbage, 2 seasons ago they won 45. A star could have changed that completely, not a favorite, but a very good team. But the best only go to teams if you have a legit shot at winning a title right away. If you're not one of those teams it sucks..

 

[Mitchrapp]

"Stephen Curry is about to sign the richest contract in NBA history: Five-years, $201 million. Fully guaranteed. It?s the maximum any team can play any player under the new CBA.

That?s not enough.
Not if you ask LeBron James."

How can 40 a year not be enough?

 

[everyoneneedsasmil]

It should be noted that winning 45 games is not a good team, also, the Pistons only won 44 (2015-2016). They were the 8th seed, meaning exactly 7 teams above and below them. That year 18 of 30 teams were above .500, which implies that a handful of teams were tanking hard and potentially inflating the win totals of others.

I call them hot garbage because they are in a really bad place. Capped out with no path to contending, but too many contracts to shed and start a rebuild. Hot because they can hang with good teams on a good night, they have decent players. But garbage because their bad games are atrociously bad and they are almost never actually fun to watch.

Also, on the Curry thing, it's not the basic number that matters, it's about how valuable players are to their franchises and the league. Before the salary cap jump, I remember cap experts had worked out that in a world with no maximum salary, players like Lebron would be worth 40-50 million per year. Given the cap is now about 50% higher than before, the same is likely to apply to those players. Having a Steph Curry on your team is like printing money.

 

[tomdalton22]

Aron Baynes opted out of his guaranteed $6.5M contract with the Pistons and is now reportedly signing with the Celtics...1 year $4.3M

Somebody gave him some bad advice!